Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #210 of 247 in Missouri. What drives it
Most of Carl Junction was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1890.
The Carl Junction post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Howard (1897), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carl Junction is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #210 of 247 in Missouri. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Carl Junction’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Carl Junction’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Carl Junction.
Carl Junction was laid out near a railroad junction by Charles Skinner, who gave the town his German first name of Carl. A post office called Carl Junction has been in operation since 1878.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Carl Junction, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Carl Junction and Waco came with the building of the Joplin and Oirard Railway. Carl Junction was founded by Charles Carl and, being at the crossing of the 'Frisco and Joplin & Oirard, was called Carl Junction.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Carl Junction Carl Junction also made rapid strides during the nineties, almost doubling its population, and more than trebling its volume of business. Among the important factors in making a greater Carl Junction was the organization of a Commercial Club, which was effected December 5, 1890, with the following offices: President, J. W. Stroud; vice president, William Carter; secretary, S. A. Stuckey; treasurer, W. F. DeQarmo.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carl Junction. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Carl Junction.
Grew from 699 people in 1890 to 8,143 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Carl Junction’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Carl Junction itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Carl Junction’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Howard, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Carl Junction post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Carl Junction is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #210 of 247 in Missouri. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
2% of Carl Junction’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 1997.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
